2015 Coupe du Monde de la PâtisserieFlavor inspirations from around the world

Here’s a round up of some of the top entries from this year’s competition, as well as some of those we thought had the most intriguing flavor combinations. The entremet and the plated dessert are just two of the five elements each team must create, the other being a frozen dessert and then an ice showpiece and a sugar and chocolate showpiece.

Keep in mind, this are rough translations from French, so we may have missed (or mistaken) a component here or there!

Team USA took third place with a "Western” theme. The entremet, titled Peacemaker, named after the famous 1873 gun and includes chocolate pecan sponge cake, crumble, croustillant and ganache, two different chocolate crémeux, tangerine compont and chocolate mousse. The plated dessert, titled Josephine was a tribute to the importance of apples in the young United States and features apple cider gelée, Honeycrisp rhubarb sorbet, apple compote, sous-vide apple pearls, pecan moelleux, apple cider jus, sable, and a cream cheese mousse.

Guatemala’s presentation was based on the history of chocolate. The entremet was titled The Offer To The Gods and included a macademia honey biscuit, caramel coffee mousse, chocolate mousse, creamy caramel and a dark chocolate glaze,
The plated dessert, titled The Grand Jaguar was presented in the style of a ancient temple. It featured a sweet potato biscuit, banana and cream cheese mousse, candied manzinilla, banana tuile, manzinilla syrup and manzinilla gelée. Please note: we're assuming “manzinilla” in this instance refers to chamomile, and not the type of fino sherry from Spain.

Work Station: Recipes Made With
Chocolate HummusA unique take on chocolate spreads that allows for vegan sweets

An innovative, and some might say unusual, new product caught our eye at the Winter Fancy Food Show, chocolate hummus from Hope Foods. We're sharing two recipes that use this new product—a chocolate pumpkin Bundt cake and chocolate biscotti.

As the Technical Advisor at Barry Callebaut North America at the Chocolate Academy in Chicago, IL, Chef Seaman interacts with pastry chefs, chocolatiers and bakers from all over the world to develop innovative chocolate creations.

He graciously shared the recipes for one of the desserts he developed for the Academy with ACD as part of his Madeleine interview in the March/April 2015 issue.

One of the flavor trends predicted for 2015 are nuts, which have steadily been increasing in popularity due to their nutritional properties including omega-3 fatty acids, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Add to that the fact that almond flour is frequently used in many gluten-free cake recipes, and the different nut butters that have become popular for those with peanut allergies and you can easily make the case more nuts, in more dishes in 2015.

One of the suggested pairings for this trend was Almond and Rose—a combination that fits wonderfully with the “Matter of Taste” column written by Chef Nicholas Lodge in our upcoming March/April issue, where he explores his love of floral notes in a variety of Almodishes, not just desserts. We did some research and found out this is a classic tea-time treat in Britain and its former colonies. So we pulled together a series of links for a variety of different Almond and Rose cake and cookie recipes.

To introduce its new range of pralinés, the chefs at Valrhona’s training academy have tweaked the classic Paris Brest recipe to emphasize the caramelized nuttiness of the cream filling. And, for simplicity, the traditional wheel-shape of the choux is just a simple puff pastry.

French Buttercream Instructions
1)
Make custard by heating milk and sugar over a double boiler until sugar crystals dissolve. Remove from heat and add flour and salt and whisk until flour is incorporated. Place over an ice bath until the custard has slightly cooled.

3)
Mix on NEXT highest speed until mixtures starts to look light and fluffy. This can take 7 to 10 minutes or longer if making larger batches.

4)
Store and refrigerate buttercream in an air-tight container. Freeze for up to 2 months.

Note: If the buttercream curdles, it will just take a longer time for the butter to warm-up. Continue beating until the butter softens and the mixture looks light and fluffy.

Pastry Live Bonus Recipe: Nov/Dec 14Rose Geranium Cake by Jessie Anne Reilly,
Take the Cake Decor, for Pastry Live 2014

“This cake has a lovely flavor and is very dense, perfect for carving and sculpting,” Jessie explained. “There are two ways to get the wonderful floral essence of the rose geranium—one by infusing the butter and sugar with the cleaned, dried leaves and the other by allowing the leaves to bake with the batter and then removing them after baking. For the competition, I chose the second option, because I wanted a more subtle floral taste for the cake. Infusing the butter and sugar resulted in a cake that overpowered the other flavors I wanted to highlight—but was delicious with just a simple buttercream!”

Rose Geranium Cake16 to 18 rose geranium leaves. Jessie notes: I purchased my rose geranium plant on Amazon.com. Do not use a regular geranium! If you can't locate a rose geranium, you can use rose water instead.

Rinse and pat dry your geranium leaves. Lay them out on a flat piece of parchment paper, place another peice of parchment on top and put a book on top of so that the leaves dry flattened.

1. In a medium bowl sift together the flour,baking powder and salt. Set aside.

2. Cut the butter into 1" pieces and place them in the large bowl of a stand mixer, fit it with a paddle attachment. Beat the butter three minutes on medium high speed until the butter is light and creamy. Stop and scrape the bowl. Cream the butter for another minute.

3. Add the sugar, a little at a time trying to beat between each addition about a minute. Add the egg one at a time making sure they are blended between additions.

4. Reduce the speed of your mixer. Stir the vanilla into buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients into butter/sugar/egg mixture alternating with the butter milk. Mix just until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix another 15 seconds longer.

5. Lay the dried rose geranium leaves into the bottom of your prepared cake pans. Jessie notes: Butter and flour the bottom and sides then then line the bottom of your cake pan with parchment paper then spray the parchment paper with cake spray. Then place your geranium leaves uniformly around the top of your parchment paper, in your cake pans. For easy release of the geranium leaves, spray them also, after you place them in your cake pans. Spoon the batter into your prepared pans and smooth the top with a knife. Lift up the pan and let it drop onto the counter to burst any air bubbles allowing the batter to settle.

6. Bake your cake in the lower third of the oven. Use regular bake in your oven. Estimated baking time 40 to 50 minutes.

7. Let your cake cool about five minutes in the pan, then turn onto cooling racks. Remove the geranium leaves. Jessie notes: When making a regular geranium infused cake you wrap your butter in geranium leaves then place the butter into a freezer bag and refrigerate over night. You also measure your sugar for your cake and place it into a freezer bag and place one geranium leaf into your sugar. The next day remove the geranium leaves from the butter and from the sugar before using.

I did not use this method for my competition cake becauseI found the geranium overpowered the other flavors I wanted for my Italian butter cream--peach, mango and banana pepper.

One of the interesting techniques Jessie used on her cake was what she referred to as an “old-fashioned” approach to sugar work. “I used natural granular sugar with water and vinegar for the ocean surface, the moon and other casst sugar elements. This result of this method is very strong and resists changes in temperature and humidity.”

To create the colorful gravel on the bottom, Jessie took pieces of colored fondant and let them air dry overnight, then put them into a food processor and ground them up. This mixture was then dusted with regular and antique gold lusters, with larger colored chunks, coral and other decoration placed among them. “The large coral fields were duplicated them with pastillage rolled out as in tree-like form and then wired and let it dry. Then I wet the pastillage after it was dried and rolled it in rocksalt. The jellyfish is a blown ball of sugar turned inside out and then colored after it dried. The feet were added after, from pulled sugar.”

The turtle was hand painted fondant with gumpaste accents. The octopus, iceberg and the killer whale were both carved from styrofoam (the rules allow for this, as long as the design can also be executed in edible materials) and then covered in fondant. The polar bears and seals were both hand modeled in chocolate clay.

Although seasonal treats are tempting, they don’t necessary have to be sugar bombs. Certified nutritionist and exercise physiologist, Franci Cohen, shares her recipe for “apple pie” that emphasizes the fruit, while cutting down on the sugar and fat.

2. Cut off the top of 4 apples and remove the inside with a spoon or scooper. Be very careful, as to not puncture the peel!

3. With the 2 additional apples, remove the skin and slice very thinly. These apple pieces will be the filling for the mini apple pies.

4. Throw the apple slices in a blow and mix with sugars and cinnamon. Scoop mixture evenly into each of the 4 hollow apples.

For the topping:
1. Roll out pie crust and slice into 1/4 inch strips. Note: You can also add a strip of pastry inside the top of the apple almost like a liner to add a little more texture and sweetness to the pie.

2. Cover the top of the apple in a lattice pattern with pie crust strips.

3. Place apples in an 8×8 pan and add just enough water to the cover the bottom of the pan. Cover with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes.

4. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and sliced apples are soft.

Another new release for fall 2014 is Sweet & Southern by Ben Mims. Subtitled Classic Desserts with a Twist, Mims takes down-home staples such as cobblers, upside-down cake, red velvet cake and cornbread pudding updating them with fresh flavors and international influences. With a background as both a food editor and a recipe developer for publications such as Saveur, Southern Living and Every Day with Rachel Ray, Mims ably mixes precision and detailed process information with history and encouragement.

I’m eager to try his version of a Red Velvet cake, made with pomegranate juice to achieve a rich, maroon-ish color, intead of more familiar red-food dye coloring. Along with the color difference, he writes that the juice adds a refreshing tartness. And my friends are urging me to make the Peanut Butter Cup Smith Island Cake. I however, have fallen in love with the Cinnamon-Chocolate Spekkuk, a favorite of James Oseland, Saveur’s editor and where Mims first learned to make this cake.

Spekkuk is an Indonesian cake based on baking traditions introduced by Dutch colonists. Its distinctive stripes are made by baking thin layers of batter—here, one cinnamon and one chocolate—on top of one another. This cake will take about 2 hours of baking time. Although it seems like the first layer would be burnt by the time the last layer is baked through, I assure you it won’t be. The subsequent layers insulate the first ones and with all the breaks from heat going in and out of the oven, it never gets a chance to burn. The edges will be slightly dry and crisp, but that’s a boon here, lending it a cookie-like texture at the edges. The high egg content gives the cake a dense, moist interior.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, cloves, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle
attachment, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in the egg yolks and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined.

Divide the batter in half and stir the melted chocolate and cocoa powder into one half until smooth.

Pour one quarter of the chocolate batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly over the bottom, and bake until it springs back when lightly touched, about 14 minutes.

Remove from the oven and carefully pour one quarter of the plain batter over the cake; repeat the baking process. Repeat
the pouring and baking process with the remaining batters, using a quarter of each at a time, until all the batter is used and the cake is done.

Let cool completely. Run a knife carefully around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake, then invert it onto a cutting board. Invert again and cut into large squares.

The creative culinary team at Baccanalia—Mark Ebbels, Kostas Papathanasiou and Ivan Brehm—were kind enough to share their innovative procedure for crystallized chocolate. Mark says: “This mousse is very creamy and smooth, so it is easiest to set it in the freezer, once it is hard, roll it into balls, then dust in the crystallised chocolate.

2. Combine the cream, trimoline, coffee and salt in a pot and bring to a simmer.

3. Once the chocolate has melted mix the warm cream mixture into it in 4 stages (the mix will separate initially, but after adding the second batch of liquid it will come back together)

4. Allow to cool to room temperature, mix well, Pour into a tray and store in the freezer.

Crystallized chocolate
Mark says “Once you make this recipe a few times you will begin to see how quickly the chocolate and sugar react together and you will start to improve your technique, It is a great deal of fun to produce! Here we are using it to coat a coffee mousse but it is extremely versatile and can be used for a lot of things, a great recipe to have in your repertoire.”

For the Dessert Buffets and Small Bites showcase, James Rosselle created a tiered display featuring four different versions of ganache-filled dessert cups—coffee, salted caramel, raspberry and Key Lime.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and powdered buttermilk. Set aside.

3. In a larger bowl, combine the eggs, egg whites, Melt, buttermilk or water, and stevia. Mix on low speed with a hand blender until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix well, beginning on low speed and increasing to high, for about 2 minutes, until well-blended and no lumps remain. Blend in food coloring until desired color is achieved.

4. Divide batter evenly among the cupcake liners. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting, beat together the cream cheese and Melt until fluffy. Add a tsp of stevia or to taste.

1) Heat milk and cream until just boiling.
2) Whisk egg yolks and sugar together until combined.
3) Scrape seeds from vanilla bean and mix with egg mixture.
4) Temper hot cream into yolks.
5) Place mixture back into pot and heat until mixture thickens and coats back of spoon (165ºF). Make sure you are stirring slowly and constantly.
6) Remove from heat and chill a minimum of 4 hours.
7) Add brandy and churn.
8) Serve immediately or return to freezer.

Directions
1) Peel and slice peaches into a medium bowl and lemon zest.
2)
Pour Culinary Brandy over and set aside.
3)
Preheat oven to 350 and butter a medium baking dish.
4)
Mix flour, sugar, brown sugar, spices and salt in a medium bowl or in a food processor with the dough blade.
5)
Cut butter into small cubes and add to flour mixture either blending with a fork, a pastry cutter, or pulsing in the food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
6)
Add peaches to baking dish and sprinkle the crumb mixture on top.
7) Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 20-30 minutes.

Top 10 Pastry Chefs2014 Dessert Professional Awards

Here are some of the desserts presented after the 2014 award ceremony by the winners.

To help celebrate the city of Beverly Hills’ centenary, Donald Wressell, corporate pastry chef at Guittard Chocolate, pulled together a dream team of cake and pastry professionals to create an enormous celebration cake. Participating professionals included Sally Camacho Mueller, Sherry Yard, Ewald Notter, John Kraus, Scott Green, Marina Sousa, Josh Johnson, James Rosselle, Della Gossett, Keegan Gerhard, Lisa Bailey, Yvan Valentin, and Mike McCarey. Kraus, Green and Johnson are all part of Team USA, competing for the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie in Lyon, France, January 2015. And Sousa, Rosselle and McCarey are of course, very well known to the cake community.

Unveiled at the block party on Rodeo Drive on April 27, the cake stood approximately 10-feet high, 15-feet wide, 20-feet long, and weighed approximately 4,000 pounds. Marina Sousa, Mike McCarey and James Roselle were kind enought to answer a quick Q&A on the experience.

ACD: Can you tell us a little about how you got involved in this project

MS: Donald Wressel asked me to be a part of the event a few months ago when I stored a cake in his refrigerator for a Los Angeles cake delivery I was doing. We got the cake all settled in the fridge and he said "if you have a minute I'd like to show you something" He pulled out some drawings and that was that!

MM: I’ve known Donald Wressell for the past 10 years. He is one of the most respected and accomplished pastry chefs in the country and for assistance with the BH100 cake he sought out individuals that specialized in the different aspects that make up this type of massive project.
For me, that meant specific building details, based on my past experience on making accurate, to-scale architectural cakes.ACD: Wha specifically was your role in the design and production of the cake?

MS: Development wise it was really all Donald! I certainly tried to provide alternate views on some things. It's really interesting, the different approaches a pastry chef and a cake designer have. I just tried to point out things that I thought could save time!

Donald asked James Rosselle and I to focus on the "shopping bags/buildings" that lined Rodeo Drive which lead up to City Hall.

JR: The shared role Marina Sousa and I had was to work on the decor for the bags. The bags were to look like building fronts from the side and shopping bags from the front. The thought behind this was to recreate Rodeo Drive shops to look like shopping bags. Each bag was embossed and painted by hand. No bag looked alike. I also made large diamond rings and large jewels for the bags. The whimsy of the bags brought the cake to life with color.

MM: Donald needed help with the ornate details that happen around windows, doors and at the tops of walls. My biggest contribution was making the cupola and dome that topped the tower. For the other details, I sculpted masters of each ornamental part of the building and from those, I made flexible molds. These molds allowed Donald and his team in Los Angeles to create all the trim and other parts they needed to apply to the building as they worked.

ACD: What was the trickiest/most nerve-wracking aspect of the project?

MS: I think it had to be the morning of the event. Just waiting to make sure everything was going to fit together- but really I never questioned it. In addition to being an extraordinary pastry chef, Donald is an extraordinary craftsman. He built the structure and designed every detail so it just all slid into place. The only reason things went so smoothly was because if his planning.

JR: Transporting each and every individual piece from the Guittard chocolate studio to the luxe hotel. I made several trips to the hotel and every trip was just as tricky because of the fragile items. There was a room designated for the cake. Can you believe a cake had it's own room at the luxe hotel with three room keys just to get access? An experience to remember.

MM: The aspect of the project that worried me most was when I shipped the finished cupola 5 days before the event. It was 3 feet high, and had to go on a specific flight, due to cargo door limitations. The airline failed to put it on its scheduled, once a week flight, so we had to get creative and reroute its trip through San Francisco to find a plane with a big enough door.

ACD: How did you and the rest of the team work together?

MS: Donald brought in chefs (friends) from all over the country. People came in for a few days at a time to do preliminary work and then everyone came back together for the event itself. It was really one of those rare professional moments that felt a little magical! Everyone who was there was extraordinarily talented and highly recognized- but you'd never know it. When it came down to serving the cake everyone was happily in the trenches cutting 15,000 pieces of cake!

It was really one of the most gratifying experiences of my career.

ACD: How long was did the planning and production take?

MS: Altogether it took about seven months, with Donald working on it practically full time. I drove down to LA a couple of weeks before the event and worked on the cake for a few days and then came back a couple days before the event.

JR: I spent several weeks on the bags, magnolias and large jewels for the cake. The bags were various sizes ranging from 24"x22"x14" to give you an idea of the scale.

MM: The mold creation process took about 2 weeks and I spent 3 days making the cupola. Donald would send me his to-scale basic structure drawings and the photos he took of the building details. From there, I produced each part and mold, paying strict attention to the dimensions in the drawings, so what I sent from Seattle would line up with what they were doing in Los Angeles.

ACD: Why did you decide to participate?

MS: Because Donald asked :) He is one of those people who is always there and doing things for everyone else and it was really a pleasure to be able to help him out in a small way.

JR: I participated because Donald is a great chef and person. I was happy to help out Donald and work on the cake. This was going to be an experience that would not soon be forgotten. Working with the talented chefs that were involved in the project was worthwhile.

ACD: What's your top memory from the experience?

MS: There are so many! But if I had to pick one it would be being in the middle of Rodeo Drive airbrushing! Donald had built out a kitchen for us to do all the finishing touches. Chefs were pulling sugar palm leaves, melting chocolate and cutting cake that was stored in a refrigerated truck--all in the middle of Rodeo Drive. It was kinda crazy!

JR: My top memory from the cake (aside from how amazing the finished cake looked) was the deconstruction of the cake. Pulling the cake apart, piece by piece was fun. Mike McCarey, his daughter Olivia and I had fun pulling sheet cakes from the structure to the cutting stations. By the end of the evening our arms were covered in cake and buttercream. A tasty mess if you ask me.

MM: The finest moment,when our “team” really all came together was on Sunday, when all the separate elements that so many different people had a hand in, came together to form Donald’s single vision. Of course, due to Donald’s master planning ninja skills, the assembly was perfect.
The team also rose to the occasion when it came to taking Donald’s vision apart and serving it. It was all hands on deck with 50,000 people in attendance and over 15,000 servings were handed out. To say it was crazy would be an understatement. People get a little nuts when free cake is involved. On a side note, this was a special trip for me, because my 12 year old daughter came to help and hang out on Rodeo Drive. It was a bonding time for us and I was one proud papa as I heard compliments and praise given to how hard she worked and how helpful she was during the whole process. Of course, we fit in as many side trips as LA traffic would allow.

ACD: What would be your advice to a cake designer thinking about getting involved in a project like this for the first time?

MS: I love collaboration of any kind so this was right up my alley. Advice? I'd just say to make sure you go into it with the end result in mind and check your ego at the door. There is a comradery among pastry chefs that has a very different feel than the cake world that I really enjoy. Cake feels more competitive. There's nothing more fun than a group of like minded people working towards a common goal. It was really awesome not to be in charge and just focus on making things look beautiful.

Cake Design: Italian StyleHighlights from MilanAs part of our research into international cake design for the May/June issue, we asked Kathleen Lange for some recommendations, as she taught in several European
cities throughout the second half of 2013. One of her teaching hosts was Silovoglio Kitchen in Milan, a full-service cake decorating academy that had just opened in Feburary of that year. (Seriously, take a look at some of the photos online...who wouldn’t want to take a class in such a beautiful location!)

The Silovoglio team also produces Cake Festival, a rapidly growing cake show that’s committed to bringing the art of cake decorating to a broader audience. There are two shows planned for 2014–in Rome on May 31-June 2 and in Milan October 4-5. If any ACD readers are going to be in either cities during those dates—let us know. Here are some photos from the most recent Cake Festival, in October 2013, as an example of what to expect!

Paris Pastry TourEaster Treats

When we left Paris in early March, most pastry chef and chocolatiers were only beginning their preparations for Easter. But here are some examples of both some current, Easter 2014 creations, as well as looks from previous years.
Café Pouchkine: Chickens in white, dark and milk chocolate that open to reveal even more treats inside.

Café Pouchkine: Elegant metallic luster eggs.

While the “Easter Bunny” is gaining popularity in France, the hen is the more traditional figure for delivering Easter treats. This version was dubbed Hélène.

One of the most amazing aspects to Pierre Hermé’s lemon desserts that were the specialties in his Paris shops earlier this month is this amazing lemon cream (curd) that is used as the filling in his tart au citron. It also shows up in some way, shape or form in other items such as the macaron, the lemon buche, a lemony cheesecake, etc.

And this is what is extraordinary about the PH lemon cream, according to Dorie:

“It has all of the ingredients you find in a traditional lemon curd, but the way you make it changes the cream's texture—Pierre's lemon cream is tangier, lemonier and, I think, lighter on the tongue, than traditional lemon curd. The secret is in the way the butter is added. In a curd, all the ingredients, including the butter, go into a pot and you cook, cook, cook and stir, stir and stir and then, when the mixture cools, it's curd. With Pierre Herme's lemon cream, you cook and stir everything—except the butter—then, when the ingredients have thickened, you put them into a food processor or blender, let them cool a bit, then whir in the butter and keep whirring. Essentially, you make an emulsion. And, because the butter doesn't melt and re-firm, as it does with curd, the lemon cream is silky, luxurious and yes, extraordinary”

1) Have a thermometer, preferably an instant-read, a strainer and a blender (first choice) or food processor at the ready. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

2) Put the sugar and zest in a large metal bowl that can be fitted into the pan of simmering water. Off heat, work the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs followed by the lemon juice.

3) Fit the bowl into the pan (make certain the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl) and cook, stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. You want to cook the cream until it reaches 180°F. As you whisk the cream over heat—and you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling—you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as the cream is getting closer to 180°F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point—the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don’t stop whisking and don’t stop checking the temperature. And have patience—depending on how much heat you’re giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes.

4) As soon as you reach 180°F, pull the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of a blender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let the cream rest at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140°F, about 10 minutes.

5) Turn the blender to high and, with the machine going, add about 5 pieces of butter at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed while you’re incorporating the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going—to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, you must continue to beat the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.

6) Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and chill the cream for at least 4 hours or overnight. When you are ready to construct the tart, just whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into a prepared tart shell.

Dissatisfied with how desserts were never the highlight of a meal, Chef Janice Wong actively sought to change this perception with the opening of 2am: dessertbar in 2007. Her never ending passion for culinary art has propelled her forward to test the limits of dessert making, including constantly blurring the boundaries between sweet and savory. Ultimately, Chef Janice Wong maintains a distinctly Asian identity through the incorporation of ingredients and childhood memories from Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. The creations plated at 2am:dessertbar are sweet treats to be savored, particularly when matched with specialty wine-pairings.

1) Heat puree, water and bloomed gelatin in a pot until gelatin has dissolved.
2) Add xanthan and blend until smooth
3) Melt the white chocolate and combine with rest of ingredients. Sieve well.
4) Place all ingredients into siphon and charge with two cream chargers
5) Pipe into sphere molds and freeze

1) Combine all ingredients except bamboo shoots over medium heat and stir until incorporated
2) Sieve well. Dice the bamboo shoots in the marinade for 24 hours in a chilled environment.
3) Sieve well and reserve bamboo
4) Dehydrate the bamboo at 60C/140F for four hours. Coat in granulated sugar after first hour.
5) Reserve at room temperature in an airtight container until ready to use.

To Plate:Carefully crack the top of a Cassis Ball and fill with the Umeshu Jelly. Decorate plate with the bamboo shoots and some Umeshu Jelly glaze.

European Pastry Cup ChampionsWinning Looks from The U.K. Pastry Team
Inspired by “The Lion King”

The U.K. team of Barry Johnson of Rococo Chocolate and Nicholas Belorgey, a teaching chef at Le Cordon Bleu in London, took first place in the European Pastry Cup, with a series of desserts inspired by The Lion King. The two had only three months to train together for the competition. The plated “Circle of Life” dessert combines chocolate, raspberry and lemon flavors.

The sugar showpiece featuring Zazu, and holding a version of the team’s tropical-influence cake, shown right.

The chocolate showpiece based on the concept of Simba as a man, holding one of the team’s plated desserts.

Last Bite: ACD Jan/Feb 14Nate Winner’s Chocolate Chess Pie

Nate Winner, a graduate of the French Pastry School, has made a name for himself as the NOLA Pie Guy. Combining appearances at local markets, food-truck rallies and other foodie pop-ups, along with an online presence, Nate has developed a thriving business in New Orleans, delivering freshly-baked pies to local addresses. For his online store, he partnered with Good Eggs, a San Francisco-based business that provides a platform connecting local food vendors with buyers in their market. Currently Good Eggs is operating in San Franscisco, Los Angeles, New Orleans and New York.

“The Good Eggs platform has allowed me to market my pies and build out the business easily.” said Winner. “I have even networked with bakers from other cities like San Francisco who have also used the Good Eggs platform to seek advice on how to increase sales.”

“I started NOLA Pie Guy because I wanted to combine two things that I love, Pie and New Orleans,” said Winner. “I always make sure to incorporate local products into my recipes as often as possible.” For example, his Chocolate Chess pie recipe, also known as his Dark n’ Stormy pie is made with Old New Orleans Rum’s three year Amber Rum and their Gingeroo, a spiced ginger beer, for the whipped cream.

“Bizzie's family probably had the largest impact on us at Pink Cake Box. We created a birthday cake for the 3 1/2 year old after she
was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor. She was a sweet happy little girl, and we were heartbroken when we learned she passed away just three months later. When the family reached out to us to create a 7th birthday cake for her brother
passed away, we were more than
to the grieving family. Jeffery’s mot
I quote her directly as I can’t parap

Jeffrey, just weeks after Bizzie
happy to try and bring some sweets
her wrote us the most beautiful note.
hrase her words:

“From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the “most awesome cake EVER” (direct Jeffrey quote). As you may recall, my daughter Bizzie was the lucky recipient of a pinkalicious bday cake a few months back. Bizzie passed away on 1.15.11. Bizzie talked about her cake all the time, and even the day before she passed away was looking through pictures of that day pointing to the cake. It was a very special memory for her.

Jeffrey’s 7th birthday party was today. We did not want to cancel it, so amid all of the craziness in our house we managed to plan a party. Jeffrey is not easy to impress, but impress him you did. He was SO in awe that all four Hogwart’s houses were represented in detail on the crest. He’s been through a lot these past nine months. Thank you for helping to make this day so special.”

My first cake Icing Smiles cake was for Emilio, he wanted a Lego Star Wars cake. When they placed their order I knew immediately what I was going to do for him— standing characters with lit light sabers. The whole time i worked on the cake I was thinking about Emilio and his family .With three children of my own, I tried to imagine how hard it must be for his parents and siblings.

I was so worried on pick up day—I into a sad event. When they arrived ran and hid around the corner of the thanked me dearly and off they went smiles, Icing Smiles.

didn’t want to cry and and turn it Emilio was very shy and actually
shop. His mom thanked me
This was not a day for tear, but for

My second Icing Smiles was for a
seven-year old boy, Jovani, who
had opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome, a very rare neurological disorder that occurs 1 in 10 million. He was in the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center when I brought his cake over. Jovani was there with his whole family, his parents Evie and Henry and his big brother Armani. He was hooked up to his treatment treatment that day, and
the moment he saw his cake, his fa the world and he started to move ar

ce broke into the widest smile inound, forgetting he was hooked up.

This was my second Icing Smiles cake and it made me see how the cake can affect the entire family of the child who is sick. I saw, in eyes of Armani, who was only nine, the deep love of a brother who understands. All the attention and gifts were pouring in for his little brother and he was there handing it to him, hugging him. Icing Smiles also celebrated the siblings of the kids who are sick, and in that moment, I understood why. My husband Jim, who is a nurse, joined me for this delivery, and we were so happy he got to see this side of caking that is most important to me.

It may seem strange to some that a bakery owner should be as proud of his blast freezer as his is of his ovens, but these two videos of John Krause explaining how much his Irinox freezer can accomplish should change your mind.

In the Nov/Dec issue of ACD, our By the Book column was on Payard Desserts, where many of the recipes are contemporary versions of French classics, such as this “Soufflé of Puff Pastry with Orange- Scented Pastry Cream, Candied Pecans and Caramel Butter Sauce.” We featured Chef Payard’s recipes for Puff Pastry and Pastry Cream, but here’s the full dessert those two components contribute to.

Chef Payard notes: “Daniel Boulud always had a preference for classic French desserts, so I developed this recipe for the lunch menu when I was pastry chef at Daniel. The dessert itself is very simple: We bake an undocked, thick round of puff pastry, letting it puff up high, and serve it hot, filled with Orange-Scented Pastry Cream and topped with a buttery caramel sauce and a few Candied Pecans. The puff pastry rounds should be baked à la minute, never ahead of time, though the dough can be rolled out and cut in advance, and stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to a day. Sometimes the best desserts are the simplest.”

1. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons (30 g/1 oz) of the water.

2. In a small saucepan, combine the brown sugar, vanilla bean pod and seeds, and remaining 2 cups (470 g/16.5 oz) water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the cornstarch mixture and cook, whisking, for another minute. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter, salt, and rum. Keep the sauce warm until serving, or refrigerate it, covered, and rewarm before serving.

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Place the pecans in a medium bowl and set aside.

2. In a small saucepan, combine the water and sugar and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring, just until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the syrup over the pecans and toss until combined. Spread the coated pecans on a half-sheet pan and bake for about 8 minutes, tossing once during baking, until browned and fragrant.

Puff Pastry Rounds
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Line a half-sheet pan with a silicone baking mat.

2. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the puff pastry out to a thickness of ½ inch. Using a 3-inch round pastry cutter, cut out 10 rounds from the dough. Arrange the rounds on the prepared sheet pan and top with another silicone baking mat and half-sheet pan; this will allow the rounds to rise evenly. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the rounds are browned and nicely puffed. Remove the top sheet pan and baking mat. Preheat the broiler and dust the rounds liberally with confectioners’ sugar. Place the rounds under the broiler until they are caramelized. Assemble the desserts immediately.

AssemblyWhile the Puff Pastry Rounds are still hot from the oven, split them in half. Scoop out any undercooked dough from the center of each half and pipe a generous amount of cold Orange-Scented Pastry Cream on the bottom half of the puff. Replace the top of the puff. Place the dessert on a plate and spoon some Caramel Butter Sauce on top of the warm pastry. Garnish with some Candied Pecans.

Apple & Passion Fruit Crumble

In the Sept/Oct issue of ACD, our Madelaine interview was with James Satterwhite, the executive pastry chef at the Charlotte Country Club, who mentions that two of his favorite flavors are apple and passion fruit. It turns out this is a very popular combination in the Southern Hemisphere with lots of recipes to choose from originating in New Zealand and Australia. Now that apples are coming into season here in the U.S. we thought it might be worth mixing up some of our old apple standbys with this Down Under flavor combo. And don't worry if you can't find fresh passion fruit...lots of the recipes we spotted included a note that canned or jarred pulp was a perfectly acceptable substitution.

The following recipe is taken from ....it pleases us an sister-in-law blogging team based in Melbourne, Australia. But go ahead and do a search on apple and passion fruit...you'll be amazed at all the variations that show up!

3) Place apples in a baking dish with lemon juice, lemon zest and passion fruit pulp. Add sugar to taste

4) Mixed the rolled oats, brown sugar, flour, butter and nuts for the topping, or use your own.

5) Spread the topping over fruit mixture

6) Bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes.

7) Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or yogurt.

Chef Hayden Groves Recipe Follow Up

We featured a recipe by Chef Hayden Groves, one of the finalists in the 2013 Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef of the Year competition, in our Sept/Oct issue, but didn’t have room to include his final two elements—the strawberry yogurt espuma and the selection of garnishes. So we’ve posted both of them here.

1. On the panna cotta, position some dried strawberries and place a portion of sorbet.
2. Make a little pile of white chocolate chunks and place the croquant.
3. Embellish with random dashes of espuma, coulis and strawberries.
4. Finish with micro basil, grated white chocolate and the crystallized basil.

Xanthe Milton, owner of Cake Girl, developed a cult following in her Notting Hill neighborhood for her beautifully iced cupcakes. She ran basic and advanced piping workshops on all three days of the Cake International show. Limited to six people each session, the workshops were both training exercises and mini-competitions, with Xanthe choosing a winner from each time slot for a special prize. She shares her recipe for Red Velvet cupcakes.

3. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a medium bow. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and food coloring together until blended.

4. In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Ad the egg beating until well mixed. Beat in the flour mixture, a third at time, alternating with a third of the buttermilk mixture everything is well mixed.

5. Spoon or pour the mixture into the lined cups. Bake in the center of the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and turn the cupcakes out onto a wire rack to cool.

1. Beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until combined. Add the vanilla seeds and vanilla extract.

2. Spoon the frosting into a piping bag with a star nozzle (or the tip of your choice) and frost the cupcakes, starting from the outside and work towards the middle. Decorate with your choice of designs to complement your liners.

Ice Cream Cupcakes

In the May/June issue of American Cake Decorating, Carla Bruno of Carlas Cakes Online spoke about how her love of travel sparked the idea for ice cream cupcakes, as she sampled gelatos and ice creams at destinations around the world. She sent in her process and suggestions for flavors.

1. Get your pre-cooked cupcakes and make sure they are completely cooled. Put the 1M tip into your piping bag and fill it with your favorite ice cream.

2. Pipe the ice cream onto the cupcake in a circular motion (as you would normally pipe icing).

3. Drizzle with some candy sauce, and top with your favorite toppings and immediately put into the freezer. Repeat steps 1-3 until all cupcakes are covered and topped. Freeze for about 4 hours or over night before serving.

Jo Malone London has released five new limited edition scents based on popular English desserts. Known her balance of gourmand scents in her fragrances, these are the first to explicity evoke certain flavors, but even so, none of them are overly sweet or cloying. Check out all five scents from her Sugar and Spice collection and get the scoop from pastry chef (and creator of Estella Cupcakes) Natalie Estella Seldon on how to make these tasty treats. We’ve shown her Lemon Tart recipe below.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out pastry to 1/8 inch thick and line mini tartlet tins. Trim excess off by using a rolling pin over the top, then allow to chill in fridge for 30 minutes. Line the crust with baking paper and fill with pastry weights. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove weights and paper, then cook for a further 5 minutes until the pastry is lightly golden. Spoon in lemon curd to fill the tart cases and return to the oven to cook for a further 6-8 minutes or until the filling is just set.

Meanwhile, make the meringue by placing egg whites in a large bowl. Whisk to soft peaks, then add half the sugar a spoonful at a time — whisking between each addition — being careful not to over beat. Whisk in the cornstarch, then add the remaining sugar as before until smooth and thick. When the tarts are ready, remove from the oven and, using either a piping bag or a spoon, place the meringue at the center of each tart (either as a piping swirl or peaks). Before serving, add a slice of lemon and a dusting of powdered sugar. Best eaten on the same day.

Derek Aimonetto of Sweet Life Bakery in Madison, WI, worked with us on a vanilla article for the March/April issue. He developed two recipes that uses layers of vanillas in different ways. For his Vanilla Cheesecake Indulgence, you’ll need to check out page 42, but we’ve shared his variations on beignets below.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk, egg, vanilla extract, and sugar. Whisk until thoroughly combined and until the sugar is completely dissolved. In another bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking powder—stir together. One cup at a time, add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until the batter is smooth after each addition. Prepare a separate bowl with the vanilla sugar.

In a heavy pot, heat the vegetable oil to 350 degrees F. Carefully spoon the batter into the hot oil, cooking three beignets at a time. Test the temperature of the oil frequently to ensure it stays between 350 and 360 degrees, adjusting the burner to compensate for variations in the heat. Gently roll the beignets while they cook to achieve a golden brown color, approximately four to five minutes. Remove the beignets from the oil and drain briefly on a paper towel. While still hot, roll each beignet in the vanilla sugar until coated. Let rest for one to two minutes. Serve warm.